Just Like The Weather
by Midnight Rain19
Summary: A collection of Soul x Maka one shots with the weather playing a role in each story/chapter. Some one shots will be lighthearted and simple, while others will be more complex and mature.
1. Snow

**Author's Note: **It's nice to be writing again after taking a mini-break. I hope people enjoy these Soul x Maka weather one-shots; they've been on my mind for a long time. (The title even comes from the song Like the Weather by 10,000 Maniacs that kind of gave me the idea to do this). Most of these one-shots will either be an AU or take place after the manga ends.

**01 Snow AU**

'_It's finally that time of year again.' _Maka thought to herself with a small smile, as she watched a few small snowflakes pass by her window at her tiny apartment.

It normally didn't snow in Death City at all unless it was maybe later into December or January, but Maka didn't mind the change to colder temperatures as it meant the holidays were coming soon.

Just as Maka was about to open her window to see if any of the snow was actually sticking to the ground, a sudden knock on her door interrupted her.

"Maka, you're still coming with me to meet Liz and the others at the mall, right? Or did you forget?" Tsubaki called out from behind the door.

"I didn't forget! Hold on, let me just put on a jacket." Maka called out, as she quickly went to her closet and put on a simple blue coat before meeting Tsubaki in the living room.

"Didn't you hear me yelling your name? I almost thought about calling you on your cellphone since you weren't answering me." Tsubaki questioned, as the two of them trudged down the damp sidewalk.

Maka laughed lightly at Tsubaki's worry. "Sorry about that, I got so caught up with trying to finish all my readings before we planned to leave and then I noticed it was snowing too…"

Tsubaki shook her head at Maka's excuses as she glanced up at the dusty grey sky with a sigh. "Maka, I know you already read the chapters for our finals ahead of time. There's no reason for you to overwork yourself like this when the exams aren't for 2 more weeks."

Maka let out a huff as she kicked a small pile of snow out of their path. "I'm not overworking myself! You know I enjoy reading and besides, I'm taking a break right now to hang out with you and the others."

Tsubaki only shrugged and nodded her head as they finally approached the mall and greeted Liz who was waving them over to their favorite spot to sit at by the food court.

"I see you guys dressed prepared for this sudden change in weather." Liz mused with a grin, as she gazed over Maka and Tsubaki's winter attire before they took a seat.

"What do you mean by 'sudden change'? I'm pretty sure the news reported that a cold front was going to be coming." Maka replied back.

"Sis just didn't want to stop wearing her summer clothes; sweaters and jackets don't really allow you to show off your figure after all!" Patty said with a chuckle, ignoring the scowl Liz sent her way.

"Can we get this started already? I still have an evening class I have to catch." Kim grumbled out from the table beside them.

Liz nodded her head as she cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. "All right ladies, it's time again for our annual Secret Santa gift exchange! The rules are the same as always, today is December 1st, giving each of us about exactly one month to find a gift for whoever's name you draw from the hat before we trade them at Kid's annual New Year's Eve party!"

"Don't forget to mention the prices." Jacqueline cut in, as Kim sent her a nod for bringing that up.

"Oh right, as usual let's keep the gifts to 50 dollars and below. I know we've all been pretty good friends since high school, but we're all pretty much broke college students now and can't afford to spend too much on anything." Liz explained.

Maka leaned her head against her palm and grinned at how excited her friends were as she watched Liz begin to write each of their names down on some scratch paper and put them in the black hat she had brought along. '_I wonder who I'm going to get this year. It doesn't really matter anyways; everyone is so easy to shop for. Liz always wants something related to fashion or clothes, Kim would take money or a gift card, Patty likes anything giraffe-themed, Jackie likes scented candles and Tsubaki usually enjoys any cool weapons or gadgets…'_

"Alright, I've written down everyone's names. Draw a name from the hat and remember, no peeking or telling who you got until the party!" Liz stated eagerly.

Everyone took a crumpled up ball and carefully unopened it so nobody else would see who they got.

Maka hid back her smile as she saw Patty's name on her paper. '_Yup, it's going to be another easy year of shopping for me!'_

Meanwhile, Liz frowned slightly at having read Maka's name on her paper. '_Ah, I got Maka huh? I guess I shouldn't complain since she never really wants anything special, but still…'_

"Well, now that we each got a name I need to get going. The last time I was late to class my professor almost didn't let me in." Kim said, as she got up from her seat.

Maka watched her go before frowning as a thought occurred to her. "Oh crap, I almost forget! I promised the librarian I would help her clean up at 4! I better get going too."

"Maka always has something on her plate, doesn't she?" Jacqueline asked, as she watched Maka put back on her coat and head down the hallway with Kim.

"She's always trying to keep herself busy with one thing or another." Tsubaki said with a frown.

Liz rubbed her chin thoughtfully as she listened to their conversation. "Hey guys, I know I'm breaking our Secret Santa rule, but what should I get Maka?! She never really changes up what she wants."

Patty looked up from the doodle she was drawing on the back of her paper and laughed. "Maka is probably the easiest person to shop for out of all of us Sis! You should be happy that you got her."

Liz only pouted as she slumped into her chair. "I know, but Maka always just wants some new book. I want to get her something different this year that will actually surprise her."

"What did you have in mind?" Tsubaki asked curiously.

Liz shrugged her shoulders before meeting Tsubaki's indigo eyes with a sigh. "I was hoping you guys could help me with that part."

"Maka pretty much has everything she needs though. She stays off campus at an apartment with Tsubaki, works part-time at the library and still manages to get good grades in her classes." Jacqueline reasoned.

"Even with all that, there must be something in Maka's life that she's missing, don't you think so?" Liz questioned them.

Tsubaki was about to speak up when her phone abruptly started to ring next to her. Liz and Jacqueline watched as Tsubaki glanced at the caller ID before smiling and picking it up. As soon as they heard a loud 'hey Tsubaki, what took you so long to pick up?!' come from the phone, they both knew it was Black Star on the other end.

"It still surprises me that you two have been dating for so long." Liz said with a smirk, once Tsubaki had ended her call.

"What was he calling you about that sounded so urgent?" Jacqueline questioned with interest.

Tsubaki felt her cheeks redden at their teasing grins. "Nothing really, he just wanted to know if I was going to stop by his apartment later."

Liz snickered even more at Tsubaki's embarrassment before she snapped her fingers as a thought came to her. "Wait a minute, that's it!"

"What's it?" Patty inquired.

"I know what I can get Maka as a Secret Santa gift! She doesn't have a boyfriend!" Liz declared excitedly.

Tsubaki arched an eyebrow while Jackie furrowed her brows at that idea. "Liz, don't you remember what happened the last time you tried to set Maka up on one of your blind dates or matchmaking schemes?"

Liz only waved Jacqueline off with a grin. "Okay, so I screwed up with trying to set her up with Hiro and other dates in the past, but this time it'll be different; I know it!"

"How exactly would you plan on doing things differently this time though; are you going to pay some guy to go out with her? Maka wouldn't appreciate that and she is already very wary of men in general." Tsubaki asked in confusion.

Liz shook her head at Tsubaki's question and smirked as she pulled out her phone from her jeans pocket. "I'm sure a month is plenty of time for me to find a guy who Maka could enjoy going on at least more than one date with and think of how shocked she'll be! Now, who do we know that is single and around our age?"

Patty and Jacqueline gained blank looks after thinking over options for a few minutes until Tsubaki eventually let out a small groan to get their attention. "I know someone, but I doubt Maka would like him."

Liz leaned up from her chair towards her curiously. "Any ideas are better than none at all."

Tsubaki couldn't help but smile a little as she nodded her head. "Um, I think Black Star's roommate Soul is single. I've never seen him with any girls in the few times I've been at their apartment, but I could be wrong since he mostly keeps to himself."

"Hmm, I think it's worth a shot anyways! Tsubaki, lead the way to their place!" Liz asserted, as she stood up from her seat proudly.

~**X**~

"Damn it Black Star, stop trying to use different cheat codes to win! You should have at least memorized some moves by now." Soul snapped out, as the two of them played a new wrestling game they had just bought.

Black Star growled as Soul finished his player with a knockout before he tossed his controller to the ground. "Whatever, I kick your ass at every other game we own anyways!"

Soul only scoffed and got up to get a drink from the fridge when a sudden loud banging at their door made him pause.

"Were you expecting people?" Soul questioned, as he scratched a hand through his snowy white hair tiredly.

Black Star nodded his head as he leapt up from the sofa. "Yeah, I called Tsubaki earlier and she sent me a text about a few minutes ago to say that she was coming by, but that didn't sound like her usual knock."

Soul watched Black Star glance through the peephole of their door before frowning when he saw he had gained a perplexed look.

"Who's at the door; is it one of our neighbors come to complain about our noise level again?" Soul assumed.

Black Star shook his head as he began to unlock the door. "It's Tsubaki, but she brought her friends along for some reason."

Soul arched an eyebrow as Black Star greeted Tsubaki with a grin and peck on the cheek. "Hey babe, I wasn't expecting you to get here so soon! Why are Liz, Patty, and Jackie with you though; did they want to see me that badly too?!"

Tsubaki laughed lightly while Liz snorted next to her. "That's the last reason any of us would stop by here."

Black Star sent her a glare before shrugging. "I know you hate the cold Liz, so there must be a good reason why you would make the trek here."

Liz nodded her head with a smirk as Black Star moved aside to let them all in. Soul sent Black Star a confused look as to why all of Tsubaki's main friends were suddenly here, but Black Star looked just as lost as he was as the girls made themselves comfortable around the kitchen table and living room.

"Sorry we all came here on such short notice." Tsubaki apologized, having already seen Soul's bewildered look before they had walked in.

"It's no problem Tsubaki; we're all friends after all!" Black Star said with a grin, as he went to turn back on the heater now that they had company.

"What was so important that you all had to come here though?" Soul grumbled out, straight to the point.

Liz squirmed slightly in her pink jacket at Soul's attitude. '_Geez, I haven't even said anything yet and he already wants to kick us out! Though I guess all of us just showing up unannounced at anyone's house would be annoying. I wonder if this really is a guy Maka could get along with though…'_

"Liz, hurry up and give him some type of answer before he gets even more pissed!" Jacqueline whispered to her, startling her out of her thoughts.

"Sis wants you to help her with her Secret Santa gift!" Patty said cheerfully, paying no mind to the shocked looks that came onto her friends and sister faces.

"Patty, I need to be the one to explain it to him, not you!" Liz cried out in alarm.

Patty only shrugged as she turned back around to face her sister with a grin. "But you're taking too long tell him."

Black Star snickered as he moved to slap Soul harshly on the back. "Looks they have something big in mind they want you to do!"

Soul scowled as he shoved Black Star away from him. "Who said I was going to be a part of it?"

Liz gained a panicked look as she quickly stood up from her seat. "Wait a minute; you haven't even heard what I had in mind! It's not anything crazy or stupid, I promise!"

Soul still held a bored expression as Liz tried to gather her thoughts together. "Okay, I know this may sound weird, but I was wondering if you could do this small favor for me."

"Of course Soul can help you, he doesn't have anything on his plate after finals really since wasn't planning to visit his folks. Isn't that right Soul?" Black Star said, sending a smug smile in Soul's direction.

Soul glowered and chose not to respond immediately. '_He's only acting like this because I beat him at a game a few times…'_

Liz brightened slightly at Black Star's explanation. "Really, would you be willing to hear me out then?" '_Oh my gosh, this could actually work; and on my first attempt to find somebody!' _

Soul pushed his hands into his grey sweatpants with a sigh as felt all eyes turn on him in expectation. "Doesn't seem like I have much of a choice now, do I?"

Liz ignored the sarcasm in Soul's answer as she briefly sent a smile to Tsubaki and Jackie who were nodding at her to continue. "Alright, all I want you to do is be my friend Maka's Secret Santa gift."

Black Star furrowed his brows at the name Maka. "Hold on, is this the same Maka that I think you're talking about; the one who keeps her hair in pigtails most of the time?"

Liz nodded her head gleefully before pouting as she saw Black Star burst into a fit of laughter. "What?! Why the hell would you try to set her up with Soul? They're like the complete opposite of each other!"

"Black Star you don't have to be so rude about it." Tsubaki murmured, nudging at his arm to stop.

Black Star chuckled for a few seconds more as he leaned back against the kitchen counter. "Yeah, okay that was a bit mean. Maka has no idea you have this planned for her, does she?"

Liz shook her head as she turned her attention back towards Soul who looked even more skeptical now. "Look, don't listen to your idiot friend here. It's true you and Maka aren't exactly alike in terms of personality, but that doesn't mean you still couldn't get along with her."

"What's in for me if I actually agree to take part in this?" Soul challenged.

Liz bit her lip at that inevitable question. '_And here I was hoping he would just go along with everything. I don't want to pay him to do this,_ _but how else can I persuade him?'_

Jacqueline noticed that Liz was struggling to find an answer to Soul's question and grinned as an idea came to her. "Hey guys, take out your phones for a moment." Jacqueline whispered towards Tsubaki and Patty.

Tsubaki and Patty gave her curious looks before nodding their heads and pulling out their devices. "What do you want us to do?" Tsubaki asked.

Jacqueline opened her photos tab and started to slide through some images. "We need to try to find some nice pictures of Maka that we can show Soul. He probably only has a vague idea of what she looks like since they've never met in person."

"How could they not have met in person at least once by now? We all went to the same high school and the colleges we go to now aren't even that far apart from each other." Patty questioned.

"Well, Black Star really only knows you guys through me and we didn't start dating until our junior year of high school and like I said earlier, Soul keeps to himself mostly. Even if he did see Maka, he probably doesn't remember what she looks like." Tsubaki reasoned.

Patty seemed to accept that answer and giggled as she found a photo. "Do you think Soul will like this one?"

Jackie and Tsubaki looked up from their phones and laughed gently too. It was a photo of Maka sleeping peacefully under the shade in a hammock after a trip they had taken to the beach late last spring. It was probably one of the few actual pictures any of them had of Maka with her hair down and not doing something school related.

"That would be a nice photo if it weren't for the fact Maka is asleep in it and still in her bikini." Jackie mused.

"Those things aren't a big deal, I'm going to go show it to him anyways and see what he thinks!" Patty cheered out, not waiting to hear Tsubaki or Jackie's response.

"Hey sis, show him this photo of Maka, then he'll at least know what she looks like!" Patty called out, as she got both Liz and Soul's attention.

Liz accepted Patty's phone and looked taken aback at their picture choice. "I don't think that photo is the one we should go with..."

Black Star peeked over the two of them to get a look at the photo and grinned in amusement. "No, I agree with Patty. That is a good one to go with!"

Liz was about to make a retort, but Patty had already turned her phone in Soul's direction so he could get a clear look at the image too.

Soul stared at the picture for a few seconds before blushing slightly and looking away. "I'm sure there were plenty of options you could've picked from besides that one…"

"None of which would have gotten that response though." Black Star muttered lowly enough, but Soul still heard him and sent him a scowl.

Soul groaned as he realized Liz and all of her friends had been at there apartment for over an hour now. '_They're really not going to give up on this, are they? I guess spending one day with this girl can't be that bad if it will get them to stop pestering me.'_

"Okay, fine. I'll be this Maka girl's 'Secret Santa' thing or whatever." Soul finally said.

Liz squealed happily as Jacqueline, Patty, and Tsubaki grinned as well. "Yes! I promise you won't regret this! I'm pretty sure you already know him, but at the end of the month my boyfriend Kid will hold his annual New Year's Eve party. You'll meet her then when we exchange gifts so mark it on your calendar or set a reminder on your phone to dress nice."

Soul just nodded his head blankly; only half paying attention to all the details Liz was giving him. Soul sighed as Liz eventually sat back down at the kitchen table with the rest of the girls to high-five them happily and go over more details of the party amongst themselves.

'_What the hell have I just gotten myself into?'_ Soul pondered, glimpsing out the main living room's window at the light snow dancing in the wind.

Black Star patted Soul comfortingly on the back before plopping down back on the sofa. "Hey man, you and Maka are both sad and lonely people during the holidays. At least now you can both keep each other company!"

Soul picked up the remote from the counter and tossed it directly at Black Star's head. "Shut up already."

~**X**~

Maka carefully tucked a curl out of her face before smiling at herself in the mirror and admiring her simple black evening dress and emerald scarf. '_Still though, I'm not sure why Tsubaki kept pressuring me to dress all fancy tonight. Kid never really had any issues with people dressing in casual wear for past parties…'_ Maka considered.

Outside in the living room, Tsubaki was sending another text back to Liz that Maka had agreed to dress a bit nicer than normal to attend the party.

_**Good, I've already have Black Star and Soul here at the mansion. Soul is currently just exploring the mansion, but the last time I saw him he was wearing a black pinstriped suit (So they'll be matching I guess!). Let's try to all meet up with each other in the main foyer at 8 pm for the gift exchange! –Liz**_

"Tsubaki, who are you talking to?" Maka asked, tapping her shoulder.

Tsubaki jumped back startled as Maka sent her a concerned look. "Oh, it was just Black Star asking if I had reach Kid's manor yet is all."

Maka narrowed her eyes at Tsubaki's quick answer before shrugging as she picked up her present for Patty wrapped in red and white paper sitting by the door. "Do you have your present? I don't want you to forget and leave the house without it."

Tsubaki nodded her head as she picked up her own present wrapped in blue and green paper. "It's already 7:30 now; we should get going. You know how Kid is about being on time."

Maka silently agreed as the two stepped out the doors. Maka shivered and clutched her scarf and coat closer to herself as the wind blew a few snowflakes into her face. "I don't see why I couldn't have worn my casual winter clothes since it's still snowing even now. Does Liz plan for us to go to some fancy restaurant afterwards?"

"Something like that." Tsubaki murmured, trying to hold back her smile as Maka kept one hand in her pocket and the other on her present.

After walking for about 15 minutes, Tsubaki and Maka arrived and greeted Kid at the entrance of his house.

"Hello, glad you could make it, and on time too!" Kid stated happily with a smile.

Tsubaki watched as Maka went ahead of her inside to greet Jacqueline and Kim before she turned back to Kid. "Um, you haven't seen Black Star and Soul around recently, have you?"

Kid thought it over for a moment before shaking his head. "I saw the both of them earlier, but I think Black Star is still somewhere inside by the food tables and I'm not sure where Soul went actually. I'm surprised he even came since he's not a party type of person."

Tsubaki nodded her head worriedly as she looked amongst the passing guests going in. '_This isn't good if Soul still isn't here, there's only about 10 minutes to go before we gift exchange!'_

Tsubaki sighed and was about to turn to head inside herself when Liz unexpectedly rushed up to her out of breathe.

"Tsubaki…have you…have you…seen Soul?" Liz panted out.

Tsubaki shook her head as both her and Kid helped her to calm down. "I was just about to text you and ask Black Star if he knew where he was. What happened?"

"Well, everything was going fine because I made sure Black Star and Soul got here early before any of the other guests arrived, but Soul decided to take a look around the mansion and hasn't come back yet. Black Star tried calling him on his phone and texting him, but he wouldn't pick up!" Liz explained tearfully.

Kid and Tsubaki patted her back soothingly before Maka returned over to them and frowned when she saw the tear streaks on Liz's face. "I was wondering why you guys hadn't come in yet, what's going on? Why is Liz crying?!"

"I can't find where my gift for you is!" Liz sputtered out, not even caring she had revealed herself as her Secret Santa.

Maka blinked in confusion before smiling warmly. "Oh, that's nothing to cry about Liz. I didn't want or need anything in particular anyways."

Liz shook her head in frustration as she stood up and gazed inside towards the entrance. "No! I worked hard to get you this present and I'm going to find him no matter what and not ruin this night for you!"

Maka watched as Liz proudly stood up and marched back inside before turning towards Tsubaki specifically. "What did she mean by _**him**_?"

Tsubaki shrugged her shoulders with an innocent smile. "I'm not the one to be asking."

Maka pouted at Tsubaki's secretive answer as they all headed indoors. Even though Liz had run off in order to find her 'present', Maka insisted that everyone else still gift exchange in order to not delay it any further.

"Ooh, a giraffe themed phone case with a matching necklace and plushy! Thanks Maka!" Patty said, as she gave her hug.

"You're welcome; I noticed your old phone case cracked, so I figured I could get you another one. The necklace and plushy didn't cost much more to add in either." Maka explained.

"Liz still hasn't found your present yet Maka?" Kim asked.

Maka shook her head with a sigh. "I told her it wasn't a big deal, but I'll try to look for her anyways so she can just enjoy the rest of the party."

Maka left her group of friends and trudged down a few hallways in search of Liz. After visiting Kid's mansion plenty of times throughout high school, Maka knew her way around pretty much every corner of the house. '_Dang it, where is she? She wasn't in the guest rooms, the kitchen, the balcony, the study room, or any of these random hallways…' _ Maka thought, as she paused in her search to admire the small amount of moonlight managing to creep in through the blinds.

'_Maybe I should go back to the party; Liz is probably with all of our friends again anyways._' Maka reasoned. As Maka retraced her steps down the hall, a faint noise coming from one of the rooms caught her attention. Maka paused in her walk to make sure she wasn't hearing things, but continued to hear a faint sound coming from down the hall that only increased the closer she got to it.

'_How is it that I didn't first hear this noise when I first came upstairs? It sounds like someone is playing something.' _Maka pondered, as she peeked inside Kid's secondary ballroom and found to her surprise a guy at Kid's old grand piano.

~**X**~

"Wow, he's so focused on his playing he didn't even hear me come in." Maka whispered under her breathe, as she finished listening to mysterious man's song before he abruptly stopped when he finally glanced up from the piano and noticed her presence.

"How long have you been standing there?" Soul asked coldly.

Maka arched an eyebrow at Soul's tone before shrugging. "Just long enough to hear you play that alluring melody. Who are you anyways; I've never seen you here before."

Soul looked taken aback for a second at the compliment to his playing as he closed back the piano case. "I'm not some creepy stranger if that's what you're thinking. I'm a friend of Kid and Black Star; I just wanted to take my mind off of being at this party so I came up here."

Maka still looked distrusting, but then saw a name tag on him that nearly made her gasp. '_Am I seeing things or does that nametag on him say Maka's present?! Don't tell me Liz really did plan on giving me a guy as a present, honestly…'_

"Anyways, why are you up here? Shouldn't you be enjoying the party downstairs with everyone else?" Soul questioned, snapping Maka out of her thoughts.

"Err; well I was until my friend ran off trying to find my present so I went searching for her." Maka mumbled.

Soul thought over Maka's answer before smirking. "Oh, I see. You must be Liz's friend Maka then, right?"

Maka nodded her head and scowled at Soul's smirk. "Listen, I don't know what Liz might have told you or even paid you, but she already knows I hate it when she tries to set me up with people."

"Liz didn't pay me anything, though she could have told me that you were flat chested. The picture I saw of you didn't make you appear that way." Soul mused just as Maka slammed a book onto his head with a loud Maka-chop.

Maka growled as she put her book away. "Humph, maybe I should tell Liz that the 'present' she got for me is defective!"

Soul was still grumbling out curses from his sore head before he faced her properly once more. "Look, I normally don't like to go to parties like this, but I made an exception this time."

"Oh, and why is that?" Maka asked in boredom. '_He's probably disappointed now that he's actually met me in person.'_

Soul grinned toothily as he walked out of the ballroom with Maka following after him. "To meet you of course, you're friends kept gushing about all these great things about you and it made me curious enough to be your present for your Secret Santa thing."

Maka rolled her eyes at Soul's explanation, but he didn't appear to be lying as she studied his facial expression carefully. '_Liz definitely picked an unusual guy for me this time. I've never seen anyone around our age that had white hair and dark red eyes.'_

"You know, you don't have to spend any time with me. Liz basically dragged you into all this. Maka stated.

"It's a risk worth taking, and now that you seem to be accepting me as your 'gift' I'll introduce myself properly: I'm Soul."

Maka nodded her head at Soul's introduction, but sighed. "And I'm Maka, but you already knew that. I still don't want to force you into this."

Soul shook his head as he gently grabbed Maka's hand, grinning when the action caused her cheeks to redden. "Trust me, I wouldn't walk here in the snow and nearly trip over myself on the sidewalk like an idiot if I wasn't at least a little interested." '_And just from these past few minutes of talking to her I know she doesn't seem to mind my looks or attitude for the most part.'_

Maka gazed down at their clasped hands cautiously before meeting Soul's face once again. '_Well, I did say I wanted to break out of my comfort zone as one of my New Year's resolutions…'_

Maka eventually laughed lightly and couldn't help but squeeze his hand in return. "Okay, I'll give you a chance, but you better be ready for my Maka-chops in the future if you keep throwing anymore snarky remarks at me!"

~_**Snow Ends**_~

_**A/N: **__The first of many one-shots to come, feel free to leave any suggestions and thanks for reading as always! _


	2. Landslides

_**A/N:**_ This particular one shot takes place about a year or so after the Manga's end.

**02 Landslides **

"Kid, I still don't understand why you think this would be a good case for me." Maka complained, as she set the case file back down on his desk.

Kid looked up from his stacks of other paperwork with a sigh. "I know checking out the cause of the landslides in Oak Village isn't exactly a complicated job, but you did say you would take whatever new case that came up and everyone else is already out on other jobs."

"Are you sure this couldn't have been assigned to anyone else though? When you said you had a new case for me, I was thinking more along the lines of the complex ones I had been doing recently." Maka assumed.

Kid shook his head as he signed his name at the bottom of another paper. "Most of the more difficult assignments you finish in a week rather easily Maka, so this case should take you even less time. Besides that, there isn't much else I could give you. It's been rather peaceful due to the fact that we're no longer fighting with any witches."

Maka sighed and slowly nodded her head in resolution. It was a rather simple solo mission to check and see if the landslides nearby the village were being potentially caused by a Kishin, but it lacked the usual excitement that Maka enjoyed.

'_I haven't taken on any truly exciting missions since Soul became a Death Scythe know that I really think about it…'_Maka mused, before she pushed the thought away with a frown.

"Alright, I guess I can handle something as easy as this, though Oak Village is a good distance away from Death City." Maka stated, as she read over the details of the case again.

Kid nodded his head in agreement as he stepped away from his chair to stretch his legs out. "Don't worry about the travel and hotel expenses since I already took care of that. The only thing you'll have to be concerned about is getting food and collecting as much information you can from the locals and the actual site of the occurrences."

"Ah, guess I'll be gone for a week from the way this is sounding." Maka concluded, as she placed the file into her tote bag with a smile.

Kid only chuckled and shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Consider it more like a vacation than a mission. I wish I could get some break time from doing all this deskwork. Father never did inform of all the duties that came with being a Shinigami."

"At least you're doing a good job at it though! I guess it must get a bit boring for you too though since you can't take on outside missions like you could in the past." Maka reasoned.

Kid shook his head as he returned back to his desk. "It comes with the profession; even Soul has had to adjust to waking up earlier to do his Death Scythe training or take on a mission."

Maka stiffened slightly at the mention of Soul has she pushed her hands back into her black overcoat quietly. "Well… I suppose I shouldn't keep you from your work any longer."

Kid watched as Maka calmly left his office and shut the door behind her. '_Hmm, maybe bringing Soul up wasn't the best thing I could have done.'_

~**X**~

"Maka, what's with all the packing; are you going on another mission already?" Blair questioned, as she watched Maka fold some clothes into a suitcase the following morning.

Maka nodded her head with a smile as she zipped everything up. "I won't be gone for long though. I should be back by early next week. I need to hurry though, the train Kid arranged for me leaves in about an hour."

Blair pouted as she gazed over Maka's luggage. "But who will keep me company while you're gone? Or feed me?!"

"Blair, I've gone away for longer than a week; I know you'll be able to take care of yourself. In terms of food, I assume you'll more than likely use that same fish guy who gives you handouts." Maka replied back easily, already moving her suitcase out into the living room.

Blair quickly scampered after her and sighed at Maka's decision. "Aren't you just taking these cases as a way to get your mind off Soul?"

Maka paused in her adjustment of her backpack before she sent Blair a scowl. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Blair's golden eyes narrowed a little as she poofed back into her human form with a smirk. "Nothing really, it seems like to me though that your only using these missions as a way to distract yourself from your feelings for him."

Maka blushed lightly at Blair's suggestion as she tightened her grip on her suitcase. "I'm not sure where you got those ideas from Blair, but that isn't true."

"Oh, so that means it would be okay if I started to flirt with Soul whenever he comes back home?" Blair teased.

'_You already did that when he was home anyways.' _Maka thought with a growl, avoiding the taunting looks Blair was still sending her.

"Well, I'll see you in a week Blair. Please try not to cause any messes while I'm gone." Maka said, as she left out the door before Blair could finish pestering her.

'_Stupid Blair and her assumptions, if only people could stop jumping to conclusions about Soul and I...' _Maka reflected, ignoring the ache growing in her chest. The only times she had made contact with Soul over the past year had been the brief phone calls she could sometimes get in with him and the one time meeting with all the Death Scythes had been held in the city a few months ago.

Maka briefly pulled herself away from her thoughts as the train started to move rapidly out of the city and into the mountainous region. "It's not very often I get to see views like this in my travels." Maka mumbled softly, enjoying the change towards a lush rural landscape as they sped by a few pastures.

The train ride went on for about 3 more hours until they finally reached the village by early afternoon. Maka stretched her arms out comfortably as she stepped off the train and glanced around the area curiously.

'_Let see, it's only a little past 1 pm right now. Since I already ate lunch on the train, I rather as well check out the site where the landslides have been occurring to get an idea of what I'll be dealing with.' _Maka decided, as she asked a nearby resident what direction she should walk in.

Maka walked carefully along the path and frowned as she noticed more and more cracks starting to appear in the road the further along she went. Parts of the road were even still covered with mud and debris from the nearby forest. Eventually, Maka neared a deep fissure in the road blocked with yellow caution tape that prevented her from continuing.

Maka glanced around the ravine carefully, but paused when a man only wearing a hard hat for protection walked right past her over the caution tape to get a closer view.

'_What the? Doesn't this guy know it's dangerous to be in this area, let alone only come out here with a hard hat for safety?' _Maka thought with a frown.

"Excuse me sir, but only officials are allowed to get that close to the crevice." Maka stated, grabbing onto the man's arm before he could potentially hurt himself.

"You don't think we've dealt with worse?" Soul asked, causing her to briefly step away from him in shock.

Maka gazed at Soul in surprise at the fact she hadn't even recognized him at first before she quickly shook it off. "Soul, what the hell are you even doing here?! Shouldn't you be away on business in Melbourne this week?

Soul shook his head with a crooked grin as he took off his helmet. "Actually, I'm here to investigate the cause of these landslides suddenly happening by this village."

Maka arched an eyebrow at Soul's statement. "But…but that's my mission to do!"

Soul's grin only widened at that. "Not anymore, we can take it on together now to save time."

~**X**~

'_Something just isn't right here. Kid would have informed me of Soul of all people being a part of this assignment, but I know he told me this was going to be a solo case. So why is Soul here?!' _Maka thought angrily, as the two of them trudged away from the site after briefly scoping out the area.

'_Why bother questioning why Soul is here anyways? You may not admit it out loud, but you've been wanting to see him again for so long. The point is that know he's here beside you and all you want do is complain about it?!' _Another part of Maka's mind argued.

"Geez Maka, what's with the pissed off look? Is it that bad that I'm a part of this case too?" Soul asked amusingly.

Maka sent him a dirty look before eventually sighing. "No, it's unexpected that you're here is all. Kid never told me that you would be coming."

Soul shrugged as the two of them reached the main area of the village once more. "Kid's been busy with so many different things that it probably slipped his mind."

Maka only nodded her head as she glanced up at a few passing clouds. "I should get heading back to my room now to rest; I haven't even set my stuff down since I wanted to first take a look at the site."

Soul reached out and grabbed her hand just as she turned to leave. "Hold on, you're not going to be busy tonight are you? We should meet up later on for dinner."

Maka blinked in bewilderment as she felt her cheeks fluster. '_Why is Soul asking me out all of sudden?'_

"It would be a good chance for us to go over all the details involving these landslides, right?" Soul continued on.

"Huh? Oh yeah, that's actually a good idea." '_And of course here I was thinking he meant something else.'_

Soul snickered at Maka's still reddened cheeks as he reached a hand out to poke them. "What's the matter Maka; did you think I was asking you out?"

Maka growled under her breathe at Soul's smug look and reached to smack Soul's hand away until he suddenly leaned in closer.

"We could make it a date if you really wanted to Maka. After all, _**we**_ do have the whole week to ourselves…" Soul whispered into her ear with a grin.

Maka huffed and swiftly pushed Soul away from her. "Stop joking around Soul. _**I**_ only came here on business."

Soul furrowed his brows at Maka's bitter tone. "I'm not joking."

Maka opened her mouth to reply, but felt her stomach knot at his words. She was expecting him to say one of his usual sarcastic remarks or even roll his eyes at her putting work first yet again, anything _**but**_ telling her he was serious.

"There's no reason for you to spend your whole time here focusing on only the case. We should make time to catch up with each other too. Soul mused, as he brushed something into her hand before he walked off in the opposite direction.

Maka glanced down at the card Soul had gave her and realized it was a card with the address for the restaurant he wanted them to meet up at.

'_I've only been here a few hours and already my mind is drifting away from the reason I came here in the first place. No matter what happens, I can't let my feelings become a distraction…'_

~**X**~

"So, the main reason that the residents have been worried is that a few people have gone missing from the most recent landslide that happened last week. While it is sad that these landslides have been causing so much destruction, I think it's more due to heavy rain they've been having rather than potentially a Kishin-and are you even listening to me?!" Maka snapped out when saw Soul let out a yawn across from her.

"Yeah I am, calm down. All we need to do basically is check inside the ravine and in the forest area for anything odd." Soul grumbled.

Maka gently slammed her fists against the table at Soul's bored answer. "There's more to it than that! It may not be a Kishin, but it could be a group of vandals or something."

"Because petty vandals' are usually capable of causing this level of damage?" Soul questioned, grinning at Maka's annoyed look.

"Oh, shut up. You know what I mean." Maka muttered.

It was quiet for a few minutes as Maka swirled her straw in her glass of water. '_For someone who supposedly should have gotten all the details of this case before me, Soul seems to act as if he literally knew nothing about this case until I told him. Unless…what if Soul really didn't know anything about the case? That means Kid may not even know he's here with me.'_

Maka was about to voice her thoughts to Soul, but was interrupted by one of waitresses returning with their food.

"Here you two go, enjoy!" She chirped out, giving a quick wink towards Soul before she left their table. Maka narrowed her eyes at the woman's blatant flirtation, but realized Soul's focus had remained on her.

"Alright Soul, don't pretend you didn't notice that women coming onto you." Maka stated, as she set aside her water.

"Was she? I was too distracted by something else." Soul stated cheekily.

Maka blushed as she realized what he meant. "You know, all of these corny lines you've been giving me aren't very cool."

"I beg to differ since I've yet to see you not blush from any of these so called 'corny' lines." Soul replied back.

Instead of meeting Soul's smile, Maka found herself frowning. '_I don't understand how Soul can't just be joking with me considering the insults he used to throw at me. There has to be something he's keeping from me.'_

Soul sighed at Maka's quiet demeanor as he finished taking a bite from his lasagna. "Alright, let's get back to business then. What time do you want to meet at the site tomorrow?"

"Considering that you like to sleep late, we can push it towards the late morning or early afternoon around 11 am or 12 pm." Maka suggested.

Soul nodded his head in agreement and turned his attention back towards his food. "What happens if a Kishin is the cause of all these landslides?"

Maka shrugged her shoulders at the simple question. "Then we'll fight it of course, obviously."

"Like how we did in the past, huh?" Soul mused with a smirk.

This time, Maka couldn't help but meet Soul's grin back. "Yeah, just like old times."

~**X**~

The dense bushes, mud, and thick underbrush of the forest Soul and Maka waded throughout the mid-morning heat almost made Maka consider pushing back the case to tomorrow. Almost.

"Still think that some delinquents could be the cause of this?" Soul asked, as he paused to lean his head against one of the few trees that still remained upright.

Maka scowled and turned to fix Soul with a glare. "At least I'm trying to actively look for something, unlike you!"

Soul stared at her blankly as he briefly glanced at the forest floor before gazing up towards the trees. "It's not like you've found anything important either besides some animal footprints. Don't worry though, I'm sure Kid will enjoy reading your report on all the dirt and leaves you went through that lead you to nothing special."

Maka balled her fists up in anger and instantly felt the urge to use her fists to put an end Soul's offhand remarks when a sudden cracking sound made them both pause in their movements.

"Did you hear that?" Maka whispered out.

Soul nodded his head as his crimson eyes sharpened towards the direction of the cracking. "It could just be another animal maybe."

Maka shook her head as she focused her jade green eyes. '_It might be an animal or it could finally be the thing that gets this case in motion.'_

Maka took a few steps in the direction of the sound and noticed that some of the trees were beginning to shake the closer she got.

"Hmm, this noise may lead us to something. I'm going to go check it out before it disappears." Maka said, not even waiting to hear Soul's answer as she trekked deeper into hedges.

Soul frowned at Maka's swift choice to potentially walk into danger as he reluctantly followed after her and caught up to her fast pace.

"You could be getting excited over seeing another rabbit or squirrel again." Soul grumbled out.

Maka rolled her eyes as she moved to lightly punch his arm. "You know rabbits and squirrels don't make sounds like that! There was no reason for you to come with me if you were just going to complain the whole time."

Soul chose to not respond to that and instead decided to observe their surroundings carefully as Maka went ahead of him into a small opening she found along the chasm.

'_This isn't good, it seems like another downpour is going to happen any minute now.' _Soul pondered, as he noticed a few dark grey clouds beginning to form.

Only a few more minutes had passed before Soul suddenly heard a vulgar yelp come from the direction Maka had walked in.

'_Damn it, I shouldn't have let her go in there alone.' _Soul thought anxiously, as he pushed a few rocks out of the way and eventually found Maka sitting against one of the slabs.

Maka glanced up from her foot and gave Soul a startled look. "What are you doing here? I thought you were keeping lookout for anything suspicious outside."

Soul arched an eyebrow as he bent down to inspect Maka's foot. "I heard you scream so I came to investigate."

"Oh, a small boulder had brushed against my foot before I could get out of the way, it's no big deal." Maka said, trying to move her injured foot out of Soul's view.

"What the hell Maka, your foot bleeding is not just a 'no big deal'!" Soul snapped out, gently grabbing her foot back to see where exactly she had been hit.

Maka winced at the touch and scooted further back on the slab. "At least warn me if you're going to do that!"

Soul only shook his head as he finished looking over her foot before he stood up again. "Alright, let's get out of here."

"What, why?! This wound isn't as bad as it looks!" Maka sputtered out.

"That's not the point. If a small boulder just fell a few minutes ago, that means another landslide is potentially about to happen. It looks like it's about to rain as well, which would only cause us to be further in the way of danger." Soul explained.

Maka sighed and slowly nodded her head grudgingly. "You're right, though that makes today a complete waste of time."

Soul shrugged as he reached a hand out to help Maka up. "The day's only half over if you think about it."

About halfway in their walk back into the village, Soul's prediction of rain happened as a steady drizzle fell over them.

Soul scowled upwards at the sky as he abruptly stopped walking and pulled Maka closer to him.

Maka blushed uncomfortably at their sudden closeness. "Soul, what are you doing? I told you I can walk on my own just fine."

"At the pace you're going, you won't get back to your hotel room until tomorrow night. Just let me carry you so we can get back their faster." Soul argued back.

Maka scoffed at the insult, but warily did as he asked as he carried her the rest of the way piggyback-style.

Maka let out a sigh of relief once they finally approached her hotel room. '_That was so embarrassing! I didn't think so many people would be out on the streets.'_

Soul stretched his arms out as Maka got off him. "You've gotten heavier."

Maka stared at him blankly before smiling slightly. "You were the one that offered to carry me stupid."

Soul grinned back as he leaned against the opposite wall. "So?"

Maka cocked her head in confusion at Soul's questioning look. "So…what?"

"You're not going to let me stay in your room for a bit at least to rest? Or do you really want me to walk back to where I'm staying at in the rain?" Soul mused.

Maka blinked as felt her cheeks redden. The look Soul was giving her was similar to the same look he had giving her the day before when he told her he wasn't joking except now his smirk had softened into a tender smile he rarely showed.

'_If I let Soul come in, he and I both know he won't be leaving…' _Maka considered, as she bit her lip in hesitation to make a choice.

~**X**~

'_I hope this was a good decision._' Maka wondered, as she glanced over her shoulder at Soul follow her into her room.

Soul closed the door behind him and gave an approving stare over the room's ornate décor. "Hmm, why doesn't Kid pay for me to stay at nice places like this?"

Maka hobbled over towards the bed and took off her shoes to properly fix the makeshift bandage she had applied to her wound. "Speaking of Kid, does he even know you're here?"

"Does he have to know?" Soul asked sullenly, sitting down next to her.

Maka's eyes widened before she turned to give Soul a pout. "Of course he should know! He thinks you're halfway across the world right now when you're actually just a couple of miles away."

"I have my reasons for not telling him." Soul stated simply.

Maka gritted her teeth as she gripped her lavender bedspread into her hands. "Well, at least tell me why you're suddenly here. How long have you been here and how did you know I was even coming here?"

Soul frowned at Maka's sudden questions. "If you really must know I wanted to see you again. All I had to do was ask a few people around Death City if you had any missions coming up and then arrive here before you did to surprise you."

"You still could've told me you were coming before I left though." Maka said quietly.

Soul shrugged as he lifted Maka's chin to get her to face him properly. "The point of it was for it to be a surprise. Anyways, I'm happy to see you and I'm pretty sure you're happy to see me, right?"

Maka gradually nodded her head with a small smile as Soul grinned back before he moved to brush his lips against hers. Maka sighed nervously at the brief touch, but slowly wrapped her arms around him as Soul's warm breath fanned her lips for another kiss.

"We don't need to do this if you don't feel completely comfortable." Soul panted out, when they eventually broke away for air.

Maka shook her head as she tightened her grip slightly on Soul's plain blue shirt. "No, not yet…not when we're so close now that I can hear and feel that your heart is beating just as fast as mine."

Soul looked taken aback for a moment at Maka's words before he gently pushed her back onto the bed and fixed her with a serious look. "Then there's no more need for words then…"

A few hours later, Maka was dazedly awakened by the sound of Soul tossing off the covers of the bed.

"What are you doing?" Maka questioned, sitting up more in the bed to watch him curiously.

"Oh, sorry I woke you up. I wasn't leaving; I just wanted to take a shower to get the scent of rain and dirt off of me. You can join me too if you want." Soul added in smugly.

Maka blushed and shook her head as she quickly buried herself deeper into the covers. Over the next few days Soul had taken Maka's mind completely off the case. The only excuse he could really give her to not go back to the ravine was that she shouldn't be on her feet for too long even though they still went out to see different sites outside of the village by the fourth day when her leg had started to feel better.

'_But it's finally my last day here in the village and I still haven't written my report to give to Kid yet. It seems like I may have to exaggerate or make up some assumptions.'_ Maka thought tiredly, as she pulled out her phone to reread the text he had sent her.

_**Hello Maka, I hope your case went well. Usually you send me small updates of how your missions are going, but this time you didn't so I thought I would just check up on you. Incidentally, have you talked to Soul recently? I heard from Spirit that he neglected to show up to his training for a whole week. –Kid**_

'_Oh, you've done much more than just __**talk**_ _to Soul…'_ A part of her mind mused, before she pushed the dirty thought away as she tried to regain focus.

Maka continued to scribble some notes onto her notepad until Soul plopped back into bed and sent her a curious expression. "What are you doing now?"

"Nothing much, just trying to finish this report that I've been putting off." Maka replied back.

Soul only chuckled before he suddenly snatched her notepad away. "I figured you had forgotten about that; guess I was wrong."

"Give me back my notes!" Maka hissed out, repeatedly striking his head with a pillow until Soul finally relented.

Soul watched in boredom as Maka wrote down a few more things before she suddenly paused with a frown, this could be the some of the last moments she would spend with Soul for a while.

"Hey Soul, where are you going to go after this? You know I have to go back to Death City tomorrow and you'll probably get some punishment for skipping out on your work." Maka said wistfully.

Soul laughed and moved to lightly kiss her forehead. "Do you really have to ask? I'll come with you so we can spend a bit more time together and I can greet everyone else. After all, someone will have to explain to Kid why your report on the landslides will probably turn out crappy."

Maka narrowed her eyes as she made a mental note to bash Soul with one of her heavier books when he least expected it. "I don't find that funny."

Soul only grinned teasingly as he flicked her cheek lightly. "But I do."

~_**Landslides End~**_

_**A/N: **_I'm glad I was able to finish this since it's been a stressful school week. Any feedback is appreciated and as usual, thanks for reading!


	3. Drizzle

_**Author's Note: **_I should be able to update a bit more often since I'll be on winter break now (I'm thankful I got through all my finals), hope people enjoy this genie-themed one-shot.

**03 Drizzle AU**

"Thanks again for coming to help me get rid of some of this old clutter Maka. I would have asked Black Star if it weren't for the fact he has weekend detention again." Tsubaki said happily, as she and Maka moved some boxes together out of her closet and into the living room.

"Oh, it's no problem Tsubaki; you know I'm glad to help! It seems like that idiot is always getting himself into trouble for trying to cheat." Maka replied back.

Tsubaki laughed lightly and let out a sigh of relief as she closed back the door and looked over the piles. "So, where do you think we should start?"

Maka shrugged as she bent down to read one of the boxes' labels. "Hmm, this one says Memory Collections 2013 or do you want to begin with one further back than that?"

Tsubaki shook her head as she removed the tape from the box. "No, we can start with it. I don't even remember what Black Star and I might have even put in there."

Maka reached her hand in as she picked up a picture frame and blew some dust off of it. "Ah, this is from when you two went on that Spring Break trip to Cancun, right?

Tsubaki leaned over to look and nodded her head fondly at the picture of her and Black Star nearby an archaeological site. "Yup, that was right before we went to check out the Mayan ruins."

Maka grinned and continued to pick up and look at different objects before pausing when she came across an unusually designed lamp. "Hey Tsubaki, what's the story behind this item?"

Tsubaki peered up from the box and gained a look of confusion. "I'm not sure on that one to be honest. Black Star might have been convinced to buy that from some vendor."

Maka glanced back down at the small lamp's unique velvet red and black pattern. "It has an interesting look to it."

"You can have it if you want; you'll probably find better use for it than we did since it was sitting here in this box until now." Tsubaki considered.

Maka scoffed as she gave one last inspection over the lamp. "I already have a desk lamp that I use at night, but I guess I could maybe set it up somewhere nice on my shelf."

For the rest of the afternoon, Maka and Tsubaki continued to explore through different boxes until Maka eventually realized it was starting to get late and stood up.

"I should get heading back home Tsubaki; it would be nice if I could stay in an apartment with you, but I'm still stuck with my Papa until I turn 18 as well. Maka said with a groan.

Tsubaki nodded her head in understanding as she stood up also. "You only have a few months left to go Maka! Anyways, maybe we should meet up earlier in the day tomorrow so we can finish clearing out the rest of the junk in these boxes before this process starts to drag on for too long."

"That sounds good to me; text me to let me know when I should come over." Maka answered back with a smile, already heading out onto the sidewalk.

Maka sighed as she trudged down the street silently. It was still a relatively warm night for mid-November with only a few autumn leaves swirling in the wind.

'_It would be nice if these past few days weren't so cloudy. The moonlight could probably provide a better light source than these post lights.' _Maka mused, as she briefly glanced upwards at the somber night sky.

Maka scowled once she made it back to her home and noted that none of the lights were on. "Guess Papa went out to ChupaCabras again."

After getting a quick snack from the kitchen, Maka headed upstairs to her room and took out the lamp from her jacket pocket before she forgot.

"_Hmm, where should I even put this?"_ Maka thought to herself, as she studied the lamp carefully. It seemed like there was something written on the bottom of it now that she had wiped away more of the dust.

"SO-L E-T-R? What is that supposed to mean?" Maka asked aloud, as she brushed more of the grime off until she could finally read out the words SOUL EATER in clear red print.

"Soul Eater?" Maka whispered out in confusion, just as the lamp starting to shake and fill her room with thick black smoke.

Maka quickly let go of the lamp in shock as the lamp continued to fill her room with smog as a guy who appeared to be around her age appeared from the fumes.

"Are you the one who woke me from my lamp?" He asked tiredly.

Maka only blinked in shock as she glanced at the guy up and down. "What…what the hell is going on?!"

Soul frowned at Maka's reaction as he leaned an arm against her dresser. "I'm asking if you're the one who woke me from my lamp."

"I don't even know what you're talking about! How did you even get into my room anyways?" Maka snapped out, ignoring the frustrated look that came onto his face.

Soul rubbed a hand through white hair wearily. '_I can see I ended up with an irritating master already.' _He reasoned, before he decided to explain himself.

"I am the genie you awakened from the lamp a few seconds ago so now as normal, I'll grant you 3 wishes to-"Soul was suddenly cut off by Maka tossing a book directly at his face.

"I don't know what crap you're trying to pull, but I'm not going to let you break into my house!" Maka hissed out, as she continued to throw different objects at him.

"Damn it, stop throwing things at me and listen!" Soul grouched out, as he threw his arms up to protect himself.

Maka soon enough ran out of things to toss at him and watched in surprise as Soul snapped his fingers to return every book and item back to its original place.

"Believe me now, huh?" He asked with a smirk at Maka's stunned expression.

Maka glowered at him as he sat down on the floor across from her. "As I was saying, I'm the genie that you awakened from the lamp. You'll be my master until I finish granting you your 3 wishes."

Maka rolled her eyes at Soul's explanation. '_I don't know how that guy did that trick just now, but I'm not going to fall for it. This is probably all some silly prank he's trying to pull; I only need to think of something to get him to go away before Papa comes back home…'_

"Alright, I'll play along with your so called 'wishes'. My first wish is for you to go back into your lamp." Maka stated in boredom.

Soul arched an eyebrow at her first wish. Usually people wanted their first wishes to be about money, love, or even becoming famous. "Is that really what you want Master? That seems like a waste of a first wish to me."

Maka only shrugged her shoulders. "Yes, go back into your lamp and leave me alone for the rest of tonight."

"Well okay then, your wish is my command." He said simply, as he poofed back into his lamp without another word.

Maka stared cautiously at the lamp for a few minutes before she moved to set in the very back of her closet out of view and get ready for bed. _'I really hope I can forget everything that happened tonight.'_

Unfortunately, the following day, Maka awoke to scarlet red eyes watching her in amusement. "Good Morning master."

Maka blinked sleepily before her eyes started to widen in horror. "Why the hell are you still here?!" She cried out angrily.

"Telling me to go back into my lamp for the night was only your first wish of three. Now, name me your second wish." He stated smoothly.

~**X**~

Maka grumpily ate at her omelet while Soul let out a bored yawn from across the table. She supposed she was lucky that her Papa was still away at some random women's house for the weekend or else this situation would be much more awkward.

"Master, hurry up and make your second wish already; there has to be something you desire." Soul asked to break the silence.

"I told you already to stop calling me that! I don't feel comfortable being referred to as your master." Maka answered back, picking up her dirty plate and heading into the kitchen.

Soul internally groaned at how difficult she was being as he followed her to the sink. "What should I refer to as then?"

"My name is Maka and I assume your name is Soul since that's what was written on the lamp." Maka stated firmly.

"I don't see why you want to refer to me by name, but if that's what you want." Soul muttered out. '_None of my past masters had any problem calling me genie; in fact, most of them would have already made all their 3 wishes by now.'_

Maka only nodded her head before she went to move past him to head back upstairs. Soul arched an eyebrow at her blatant disregard of him. Did she really not care that she still had two wishes left?

"Listen, I'm only going to keep bugging you until you finish making _**all**_your wishes. I'm sure at some point in your life you've wanted something selfishly. Maybe an expensive item or a popular guy, hell perhaps a better body…" Soul trailed off.

Maka turned away from the stairs to fix Soul with a fierce glare. "Why would I bother making any more wishes if you're going to be an ass about it? Besides that, I actually want to work to achieve my goals; not have them just magically given to me!"

Soul watched as Maka stormed back up stairs and slammed her door closed behind her. Soul sighed and decided to retreat to the couch to watch TV.

'_Great, I probably made things even worse by saying that.' _ Soul pondered, beginning to carelessly flip through channels. A brief pause on the news let him know there was a higher chance of rain today with more clouds developing by the late afternoon hours.

Meanwhile upstairs, Maka quickly got changed into a green polo top and blue jeans to get ready to head over Tsubaki's place. "Stupid genie, why has he been looking at my body in first place anyways?! At least I should be able to get away from him for the next few hours."

Maka cautiously peeked downstairs and smirked when she saw that Soul had apparently fallen asleep in the midst of his channel surfing. '_Good, maybe when he wakes up and sees that I'm gone; he'll go back into his lamp for real.' _

Soul waited on reopening his eyes until he heard the front door quietly close. Soul stretched his arms out and lazily stepped off the couch to gaze in the direction had Maka left in.

"Hmm, she left her umbrella by the door; I'm pretty sure she can't stay too pissed at me if I go bring it to her." Soul speculated.

Maka slowly stopped her brisk run as she finally neared Tsubaki's apartment. Taking a quick glance around to make sure she wasn't being followed, Maka approached Tsubaki's door a bit more at ease.

After waiting a few minutes, Tsubaki opened her door and beamed at Maka's arrival. "Hey Maka, you came earlier than I thought you would! And you brought company to help apparently?"

Maka blinked in puzzlement at her statement before glancing behind her to see that Soul was standing there with an aloof grin.

"What are you doing here?" Maka seethed out, when the two of them had stepped far enough away for Tsubaki to hear.

"I came to bring you your umbrella; by the way, you should really look in all directions including above you if you were trying to avoid me." Soul said nonchalantly, putting her light gray umbrella into her hands.

Maka stared down at her umbrella for a moment before sighing. "I doubt it's going to rain, it's just been cloudy all week is all."

Soul shrugged before stepping back from her. "Better to have it than not have it all. Can't have my master potentially catching a cold now, could I?"

Maka blushed lightly at that before looking away with a huff. "Please go back home."

Soul was about to respond back, but a sudden yell made them both turn back in Tsubaki's direction. "Tsubaki, why are you keeping the door open so long- and hey Maka, who's that with you?"

Maka quietly uttered a curse under her breathe before giving Black Star a fake smile. "Oh, he's no one."

Black Star furrowed his brows as he stepped away from the door to get a closer look at Soul. "Doesn't look like no one to me. Heh, I never thought you would go and get yourself a boyfriend! Does your old man know about him?"

"He's not my-"Maka was cut off from her retort by Black Star greeting Soul with a friendly handshake. "Hey man, any friend of Maka's is a friend of mine! I guess Maka brought you along so we could get finally introduced to you, huh?"

Maka secretly shot Soul a glare to not tell Black Star who really was, but Soul only brushed it off. "Yup, I figured it was about time more people knew about our relationship."

'_Okay, what is he trying to pull now?'_ Maka thought furiously, as she saw Soul cast a quick smirk at her before heading inside with Black Star.

"I've never seen that guy around school or does he go to another one? And how long have you two been dating?" Tsubaki quietly asked her once they were all inside.

"I wouldn't even know how to explain it to you." Maka mumbled, already worried about how the rest of the day was going to go now.

~**X**~

"Why is it my friends can see you?" Maka whispered to Soul, once Black Star and Tsubaki had gone to the kitchen to get them drinks.

"Stupid, I'm not a ghost; of course other people can see me. Now if I were to show them my powers though…" Soul chuckled.

Maka's emerald eyes sharpened at Soul's tone. "If you try anything on them, I'll make sure to get my revenge for it."

"Oh, and what exactly could _**you**_ do to me?" Soul inquired, grinning when Maka didn't respond back immediately.

"What was your point in coming here anyways, besides to annoy me by lying to my friends?" Maka demanded.

"Since it seems like you want to save your last 2 wishes for who knows how long, I figured I should at least learn a little about your life to help push you to make a wish on something, even if that means I'll have to make things up." Soul explained.

Maka huffed at Soul's smug answer as Black Star and Tsubaki returned with some soda and glasses.

"So Maka, tell us about this guy; to think you had us all fooled into believing you would never date anyone and be single forever." Black Star mused, straight to the point.

Maka gritted her teeth at Black Star's snickering. "If you would've listened to me earlier you could've heard me say Soul wasn't my boyfriend."

"Maka, there's no need to deny it. I'm not going to go running off to tell your Dad if that's what you think, though it would be funny to see his face now that I think about it." Black Star said with a smirk.

Soul silently watched the two of them argue before sighing. "Maka is telling you the truth; we only met a few days ago, but we're slowly getting to know each other better." '_Well technically, we only met a few hours ago and we still know basically nothing about the other...'_

Black Star rubbed his chin thoughtfully at Soul's answer as he leaned his head back into the couch. "Damn, and here I thought I had a good rumor on my hands."

Maka grinned at Black Star's discontent look while Tsubaki cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.

"Black Star, why don't you show Soul those new games you bought so Maka and I can complete clearing out the rest of this old stuff?" She suggested.

Black Star looked confused before his eyes brightened at the idea. "Good idea! Come on Soul, it's your lucky day; you get to watch a God kickass at video games!"

"Hooray?" Soul said, casually following after him to a room down the hall.

Maka watched them head off before turning to send Tsubaki a pout. "Why did you let them leave like that? They were supposed to help us!"

Tsubaki only smiled gently as she noticed the small smile that came onto Soul's face as Black Star fervently talked about how good he was. "It seems like they would get along well, don't you think?"

Maka snorted as she started to peel away at the tape of one box. "Oh, is that all? I guess they could be good friends."

Tsubaki nodded her head and grinned even further. "You and Soul would make a good couple too. He even came all this way just to give you an umbrella."

Maka felt her cheeks redden at Tsubaki's grin. '_I haven't really thought about it until now, but Soul couldn't have always been stuck in that lamp. He must have family and friends who are worried about where he is before he was cursed to live a life granting people's wishes…'_

"Tsubaki, don't start getting any ideas now. I really don't know much about him." Maka grumbled out.

"For now you don't, but complete strangers can quickly become the best of friends though." Tsubaki stated cheerfully.

Maka pushed away a stray hair from her face before gazing back at Tsubaki with a frown. "You just read that off the back of one of those pile of books, didn't you?"

Tsubaki moved to hide the book behind her back teasingly. "Maybe, but it's still true!"

~**X**~

"You're friends seem nice, maybe you should wish for something good to happen to them." Soul considered, as the two of them sauntered back home in the evening light.

Maka shook her head, twirling her umbrella absentmindedly. "They already have all they need."

Soul scowled at Maka's stubborn behavior and chose to say nothing back. The two continued walking in silence until Maka paused to brush a few raindrops from her hair.

"Glad I brought you the umbrella now?" Soul questioned from beside her.

"It's only coming down in a drizzle, it's not like we'll get soaked." Maka scoffed in reply, moving her pace to be ahead of him.

Maka eventually trudged up to her door and fiddled in her pocket for the key when a sudden voice on the other side made her delay going in.

"What's the matter, did you forget your key at Tsubaki's place?" Soul inquired, only to get quickly hushed as Maka pressed her ear towards the door.

'_That voice just now, it sounded definitely like a woman; don't tell me Papa brought another lady to the house again! After he promised me he would stop too…' _Maka thought furiously.

Maka sighed and stepped away from the door in disgust. Soul arched an eyebrow as Maka moved to walk in the opposite direction of her home towards a nearby field.

"This drizzle could become a downpour any second." Soul stated, hearing a slight rumble come from the now darkening grey skies.

"I don't care." Maka said tiredly, crouching to sit against one of trees. Soul studied her for a few seconds before moving to sit beside her.

"I knew there was something in your life you wanted to change. Why not wish for your Dad to stop being such a pervert and sleazebag?" Soul suggested.

Maka turned her gaze away from the ripples the raindrops were causing in a small puddle. "There's other ways to go about it than just wishing for it."

"Are any of those other ways working out for you?" Soul mused with a sardonic grin, as Maka narrowed her eyes.

Maka twiddled her thumbs carefully as she weighed the pros and cons of making the wish before she came to a decision. "Fine, for one day I wish my Papa would stop flirting with every woman in Death City."

"Only for one day?" Soul asked, to be sure.

Maka nodded her head as she stood back up determinedly. "I may not like his behavior, but changing him forever would be like getting a new Papa altogether."

Soul grinned toothily at that and he snapped his fingers. "Wish granted."

Maka glanced back in the direction of her house and smiled slightly. "That easily?"

"That easily." Soul replied back, observing Maka rush back to her home to see if it was true.

Sure enough, the woman Maka had heard earlier was now outside her home with a baffled look on her face.

"But Spirit, I thought you were in the mood to…" the woman cried out.

"Sorry, but I'm just not feeling it all of a sudden, perhaps another time." Spirit said dully, before closing the door in her face.

Maka gaped at the scene from behind the corner as the woman's shocked look quickly became pissed before she left with a huff.

'_I've never in all my years seen my Papa turn down a woman, this magic business is some powerful stuff.'_ Maka realized in amazement.

"I'll be in my lamp while you face your Dad." Soul said from behind her with a grin, before he poofed away.

Maka grimaced at Soul's words as she went inside and for once had her Papa give her a lecture on why she had been gone for so long and had never sent him a message to let him know where she was. Even though Spirit was criticizing her for her lack of punctuality, Maka couldn't help but smile at the fact he was showing his rare side of seriousness.

"Alright, I can see nothing I'm saying is getting through to you since you keep grinning. We'll have to discuss your punishment in the morning." Spirit said with a sigh.

'_Punishment? I didn't even do anything! Maybe I should have better thought this wish through…' _Maka contemplated, trudging up back up to her room with a frown.

A few minutes later, Soul reappeared from his lamp and smirked at Maka's annoyed look. "I see you had a nice chat with your dad."

"Shut it, are your wishes made to backfire? All I asked was for him to stop being a flirt and I got punished for it!" Maka snapped out.

Soul leaned a hand against his palm at Maka's predicament. "Since your Dad's mind isn't occupied with woman and being a Casanova, he's more focused on taking care of you and doing his job for the next 24 hours."

Maka pouted at that news and watched a few tiny raindrops hit against her window. "So, I've only got one more wish left then, huh?"

Soul nodded his head as he sat up a bit. "Already have something in mind?"

Maka shook her head, continuing to stare outside as her conversation with Tsubaki entered her head again. '_I've barely known Soul for a little over a day; I shouldn't try to pry into his life.'_

"I should go back into my lamp then." Soul stated, interrupting her thoughts.

"Hold on, there's something I wanted to ask you." Maka quickly spoke out.

Soul focused his attention back on her as Maka blushed a little under his stare. "Um… I was just wondering how long you've been cursed to live in that lamp."

Soul said nothing back for a second as he glanced over at the object of confinement. "Would you be surprised if I told you hundreds of years or something? We're actually around the same age give or take a year."

"I would know you were being sarcastic you were really that old. Though it could explain why your hair is white." Maka said with a chuckle.

Soul sent her a glare for that joke before shifting uncomfortably. "Why do you want to know about my life all of a sudden; is it really that important?"

'_This is not how I was expecting this conversation to go…'_ Maka pondered, shaking her head to answer Soul's question.

"Well, if you actually haven't been stuck in that lamp for a long time, your family must be worried about you-"Maka was cut off by a snort from Soul.

"My family probably thinks I'm dead or don't give a damn where I am." Soul stated flatly.

Maka opened her mouth to retort, but Soul looked away from her. "All I'll tell you is that I'm cursed to live this life because of my own stupid mistake of pissing an old lady off, happy now?"

Maka observed Soul go back into his lamp without another word and sighed wistfully when shaking it wouldn't make him come out and face her again.

"No Soul, I'm not happy; now I'm just more curious to know more about you…" Maka whispered out.

~**X**~

For the rest of the night and into tomorrow, Maka found it hard to focus on her studies with Soul's words weighing in the back of her mind.

The drizzle that had started yesterday evening had continued into today, causing a hazy overcast to appear over a majority of the city.

"Heh, what's with that sad face Maka? I bet you got into some type of lover's spat with Soul." Black Star snickered, as Professor Stein gave them a 5 minute break to talk.

Tsubaki elbowed Black Star to go bother someone else before sending Maka a concerned look. "Did something really happen?"

Maka nodded her head slowly as she set aside her textbook. "I asked Soul about his personal life and he basically shut me out."

"What exactly did you ask him?" Tsubaki questioned curiously.

"I asked if his family or friends were worried about him since he doesn't talk to them much." Maka said, partially lying. It wouldn't make sense to really tell her that Soul couldn't even see his family if he was bound to live in a lamp.

Tsubaki nodded her head attentively as she weighed the question. "It seems like you might have asked him about a sensitive issue too early."

Maka silently agreed as she tapped her pencil against the desk. "I've been trying to fix that, but he won't come out of his lamp- err I mean home or respond to my calls."

Tsubaki twirled her thumbs as she continued to think over options. "You're not the type of person to give up easily Maka. I'm sure you'll think of something to smooth things over with him before the day ends."

Maka smiled slightly at that and returned her attention back to their lesson as the rest of the school day went on.

'_There must be something I haven't thought of yet. Perhaps the only way I can get him to come out is if I tell him I'm ready to make my final wish, but what could I wish for?' _Maka thought deeply, clutching her umbrella a bit tighter in frustration, as she headed back home.

The small tapping of raindrops against her umbrella soon stopped, causing Maka to look up to see if the drizzling had really ended. It was still mostly cloudy, but a few of the clouds had parted to finally allow for small peaks of sunlight to come through.

Maka slowed her walk to admire the rainbow beginning to form from the mix of light rain and sun as an idea clicked in her head. '_Wait a minute; I know what I can wish for! I'm surprised I didn't think of this earlier.'_

Maka rushed back home and was greeted by her Dad who was casually typing some notes on his laptop. "You're home early; you didn't have any student council meetings to go to after school?"

Maka shook her head, almost forgetting that Spirit was still under the effects of her wish for a few more hours. "What's that you're working on?"

"Oh, this? Just some paperwork Principal Death had me doing that I wanted to finish up early." Spirit announced proudly.

"Sounds good, I should get started on my homework too." Maka stated, knowing that this would mean he would leave her alone for next few hours.

Spirit nodded his head, returning back to his computer as Maka hurried up stairs and tossed her damp umbrella into the corner.

Maka glanced around her room for Soul's lamp and noticed it was now by her bedside. At some point that must have meant Soul had come out of his lamp to either snoop around her room or observe what her Dad was doing.

"Alright Soul, you'll have to come out now to listen to me. I have a wish in my mind." Maka declared seriously.

Soul made no action to move, causing Maka to grab his lamp and start to vigorously shake it until Soul ultimately came out and fixed her with a dirty look.

"Damn, was that honestly necessary?" Soul muttered, rubbing his now throbbing head.

"This is important; I'm ready to make my final wish." Maka said, trying to block out the anxiety she was beginning to feel. '_I hope this works.' _

Soul lightly massaged his forehead as he turned to face her. "Oh, you are? This ought to be good…"

Maka nodded her head with a grin at Soul's skeptical look. "It is, because my final wish is for you to be free from your cursed life as a genie."

Soul paused in his mid-snap of his fingers to send Maka a bewildered stare. "What?"

"You heard me, I wish for you to be free. I can wish for that, can't I?" Maka challenged confidently.

"You can, but…why do you want to use your last wish on me?" Soul inquired.

Maka only smiled gently at Soul's confused expression. "To get to know you better stupid; I'm sure you want to continue being friends with Black Star and enjoy a normal human life again."

Soul nodded his head, still surprised at what Maka was asking for. "Are you sure that's what you want?"

"Yes." Maka answered without hesitation, glad when Soul snapped his fingers to grant it.

Maka glanced over Soul carefully and frowned when he appeared to be the same. "Did my wish really work? No flashes or effects went off to signal any change."

Soul rolled his eyes and grabbed her by the arm to pull her into a hug. "I'm not going to change into a different person moron."

Maka resisted the urge to hit Soul for that comment and instead burrowed her face comfortably into his chest when she heard him mumble a quick thank you into her ears. When Maka eventually moved back a bit, she realized that Soul's lamp had broken into pieces.

"You're really not bound to that lamp anymore! You can live your life any way you want to now!" Maka said excitedly.

Soul grinned wickedly at Maka's cheer and moved his face closer to hers. "Anyway I want?"

Maka flushed at their closeness when an abrupt knocking on her door and turning of her doorknob made them separate.

"Maka, I heard what sounded like you talking to somebody so I decided I should check on you before I left for- Spirit paused mid-sentence when he saw Soul.

Spirit gazed between the two of them for a moment in stunned silence before he let out a screech of horror. "Maka, what type of homework involves sneaking a guy into your room?!"

Maka sighed at her Papa's over the top reaction. "I guess he's back to normal."

Soul only shrugged as wrapped an arm around her, further freaking out Spirit. "You should have at least wished I could have kept my powers; then I could make him go away."

"Now's not the time to say that!" Maka muttered back, trying to hold back a smile for the next lecture she was sure to face.

~_**Drizzle Ends**_~

**A/N: Feel free to leave any suggestions on possible weather one-shots you want to see and thanks for reading as always! **


	4. Hail

_**A/N: **_This one takes place shortly after the manga ends with a lucid-dream theme. It becomes slightly AU in nature towards the middle half of the story.

**04: Hail Storm Manga AU**

'_This is going to be a long day.'_ Maka realized; trying to ignore the faintly dull headache she had awoken to as she got ready for school.

It was a typical morning and as usual, Maka set up for breakfast by placing a pan on the stove for the eggs while putting two loafs of bread into the toaster.

Behind her, she could already hear Blair beginning to harass Soul.

"Come on Soul, why not take a day off from your training and stay here with me?" She cooed out into his ear.

Soul only growled and moved to shove her away to no avail as Blair continued to press up against him. Maka observed the scene with a side glance and gripped the pan handle a bit tighter when her eyes finally met Blair's.

'_She's waiting for you to react, to hit Soul again and cause a scene, but not today though…not when I already have this migraine.' _Maka thought, turning back around to make sure the eggs didn't burn.

A few minutes later, Maka set down the finished eggs and toast on the table and ate her plate in silence while Soul watched her uneasily.

'_She didn't hit me for Blair coming onto me again. Either she's waiting to just chop me when I least expect it or something's bothering her.' _Soul reasoned, but decided to wait on questioning her until later.

Meanwhile, Blair took Maka's lack of violence for a sign she could continue her flirtations as long as Maka was going to continue feigning ignorance.

It wasn't until Soul and Maka were midway in their walk to their respective classes that Soul could finally ask what was troubling her.

"There's nothing going on with me. Blair comes onto you every morning." Maka stated matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, and you always give me a Maka chop for it; except today you didn't." Soul responded back.

Maka shrugged her shoulders, the slight throbbing of her head returning back. "Today I didn't feel like it. Why, do you want me to hit you?"

Soul shook his head and scowled at Maka's disinterested answers before the sound of the bell going off signaled classes were about to begin. "Maka, you don't have to put up a front with me. You can tell me what's bugging you."

Maka said nothing back, watching Soul idly turn and stroll in the direction of where he always met Kid for his Death Scythe training.

Maka bit her lip in frustration until a tiny trickle of blood came, the metallic taste of blood providing a temporary distraction to the twinge in her chest at Soul's concern for her. She should be used to Blair's actions by now, really she should and yet, she wasn't. Maybe keeping up a façade was going to be harder than she thought.

'_If only Blair could just disappear…'_ Maka mused, before pushing the malicious thought away. What was jealousy doing to her? Even Soul's fangirls hadn't irked her to the point of wishing them gone…

Luckily, Maka's morning classes went on to remain relatively uneventful, leading her to believe that only the morning was going to be the worst part of the day. Wrong.

~**X**~

"Where do you want me to put these finished reports Professor Stein?" Maka asked him with a smile, once lecture was over.

Stein glanced back over the papers again briefly, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Put them on top of the other stacks in my office; you know the same area."

Maka nodded her head and proceeded out of class down the hall to his office. Doing some busy work filing papers and taking notes had taken her mind off the incidents that had occurred this morning until she caught a glimpse of her Papa down the hall, with one of the newly hired secretaries.

Maka paused in her walk to observe the scene carefully. A part of her mind knew that had to be her Dad telling by his trademark red hair and usual business outfit, but another more wishful thinking side mused that could just be a random man; A random man showing no shame in his antics of brushing up along the woman's curves while she giggled and encouraged him along.

'_If I turn around now, I could pretend I saw nothing.' _Maka thought heatedly, already starting to crush the papers she needed to get to Stein's office.

"It must be embarrassing having a lecherous father like that. How do you deal with him?" A taunting voice whispered close by her.

Maka gave a side glance towards the voice and recognized the girl as a NOT student and one of Soul's many fan-girls. Perfect.

"Actually, It's not really too hard to put up with. In fact, I'll let him know how I feel right now." Maka replied back coldly, startling the girl to take a step back from her.

Maybe it was her frustration from this morning over her muddled feelings for Soul that she still hadn't gotten over or the embarrassment she felt that her Papa had the nerve to flirt at the school, but whatever it was, Maka could feel her anger boiling back up as she stomped over to her Dad.

The secretary was the first to notice Maka's presence as she quickly scooted away from Spirit's touch and smoothed out her skirt. "Well, I should really get going back to work now. It was nice talking to you."

Spirit frowned as the woman hastily sauntered off in the opposite direction, leaving him confused. "Wait, I know a place we could've gone to-"Spirit immediately cut himself off when he saw Maka approach him from the side.

"Oh, Maka darling! Heh, how long have you standing there?" He asked nervously.

Maka closed her eyes and took a deep breathe in to calm her nerves, but still found herself shaking with rage. "Oh you know… long enough."

"Papa can explain himself! You see, I was just going to show her-"Spirit stopped when he noticed the hardened glare Maka was sending him.

"I don't want your excuses! I know I can't stop you from going to ChupaCabras and flirting with woman, but you couldn't at least control yourself at school?!" Maka snapped out.

When Spirit gave no answer back, Maka continued on. "I can't believe you sometimes! I wish it was _**YOU**_ that left Death City and not Mama!"

Spirit's eyes widened at that as Maka lightly brushed her fingers against her lips in realization of what she said.

The similar ache she had felt this morning swept against her chest once more at the truly hurt look that came onto her Father's face before he straightened up and looked away.

"I…I didn't know you felt that way. I should go check and see if Kid needs anything." He grumbled out, going down the hall before Maka could give a response back.

'_Damn it, I let my anger get to me again! Stupid Papa, he should know I didn't really mean that…'_ Maka thought with a sigh, ignoring the whispers students made around her about the scene.

~**X**~

"Maka said that to her Dad, really?" Soul questioned Black Star in amusement, taking a break from his training to eat lunch under the shade of a tree.

Black Star nodded his head as he munched on a few chips. "So I've heard from the rumors going around the school. Her old man did not take it well."

Soul snorted as he took a chug from his soda. "I can imagine. Something's been bothering her lately, but she won't tell me what."

Black Star shrugged, crumpling up his now empty bag and throwing it into the trash. "It's too bad you don't understand woman like I do."

Soul stared at him blankly, mulling over his statement. "How could you say you understand woman when months ago you and Maka argued to the point that she ended up crying and running off over your 'understanding' behavior?"

"…I don't recall that." Black Star said simply, causing Soul to roll his eyes.

'_Nothing's really changed between us since I became a Death Scythe. Though we can't hang out as much, maybe that's what's troubling her.' _Soul wondered.

"I hate to interrupt your lunch Soul, but we should get back to business soon." Kid stated, coming up to the two of them.

Soul frowned and glanced up towards the darkening sky. "We can't cut it short today Kid? It looks like it's going to start pouring any minute now."

Kid shook his head, looking up to the sky as well. "You can't use the weather as an excuse. We'll stop once it actually starts coming down though."

Black Star snickered at Soul's annoyance before he got sent a glare to shut up. A short look at his watch let him know it was already half past 1.

'_Maka's going to be getting out her afternoon classes soon and heading home. Guess I'll have to wait till later this evening to clear things up with her.' _Soul thought with a sigh.

"This day is going from bad to basically horrible." Maka muttered under her breathe. She had been hoping she would at least be able to make it home before the storm started, but the small clattering noises she had heard against the rooftops the closer she got to outside let her know it had already begun.

Outside, she could see a few students hollering and running for the nearest cover as small white pellets blanketed the pavement. Maka reached down to pick one up and noticed it was a hailstone.

'_Hmm, taking out my umbrella would create the risk of holes getting into it. If these hailstones stay around this size though, then I should be able to make it home okay.' _Maka speculated, putting on her black jacket with a hood for some protection.

Maka kept to a brisk pace heading home until she witnessed what looked to be an elderly woman having trouble holding all her bags further down the block.

"Do you need some help mam?" Maka asked, already reaching out to grab one bag falling from her arms.

The woman's light blue eyes brightened at Maka's sudden kindness. "Thank you dear, I appreciate the help."

'_Well, at least I'll be making someone else's day better.' _Maka mused, helping the woman to carry the rest of her bags back to her home and set them down. Maka took note that woman's home had a mysterious air to it; there was a wide array of different glass bottles and knickknacks adorning her shelves along with pictures of places she had traveled to in her youth.

"You can take a seat if you want dear. I'll bring you out some tea." The woman called out from the kitchen, startling Maka from her thoughts.

Maka shook her head with a light smile. "Actually, I should really get heading back home now."

The woman arched an eyebrow at that, moving to open one of the kitchen's blinds. "In this weather? The hail is coming down even harder now."

Maka turned to look outside the living room's window and indeed saw that the hail had grown to around the size of tennis balls; most of it smashing sharply against the concrete of the road as thunder boomed in the distance.

"I wouldn't want you getting injured after you just helped me out. You're not in a hurry to get home, are you?" The woman questioned, setting up her tea-set behind her.

Instantly, thoughts of Blair's teasing her over this morning came to mind making Maka turn away from the window to sit down next to the woman. '_No, I'm not actually.'_

The woman calmly poured herself and Maka a glass and took a sip from hers. "Ah, so I'm Ms. Brown and my honored guest is…?"

"Oh, I'm Maka! You don't have to be so formal with me though." Maka stated with a laugh.

Ms. Brown nodded her head, placing her teacup delicately down. "So Maka, what caused you to be outside in the middle of a hail storm?"

Maka shrugged, wondering if she should even bother this old woman with her trivial problems. "I was trying to get home before it got even worse, but I guess that didn't work out."

Ms. Brown carefully clasped her fingers together, her blue eyes shining with mirth. "It seems like you have other things on your mind too. We have the time now, so why not get it off your chest?"

Maka scrunched up her face at the thought of throwing her problems at a stranger she had just met, but she did look curious to know what was bothering her. After retelling her story of the events leading up till now, Maka silently admitted to herself that she did feel a tad bit better.

Ms. Brown slowly stirred a spoon in her tea, gingerly thinking over Maka's issues. "If I'm getting your story straight, you desire for your father to stop his flirting and for your vixen roommate to stop coming onto your man, correct?"

Maka felt her cheeks turn a reddish hue at her assumption of calling Soul 'her man' "I didn't refer to Soul as that, but yes, that's it in a nutshell."

"Is that really what you want?" Ms. Brown asked quietly.

Maka shrugged her shoulders, not sure where she was going with this. "It would be nice if only for a while I didn't have to deal with my Father's constant pursuit of new woman and Blair's taunts."

Ms. Brown nodded her head mischievously and got up to get something from her room without another word. Maka blinked in confusion at her sudden departure, only for her to return back into the room with an elixir in her hands.

"I can give you that experience. " Ms. Brown stated, straight to the point.

Maka furrowed her brows, scooting back even more into her chair if possible. "What do you mean?"

"You could experience what it's like to live in a world where all those problems you just mentioned wouldn't exist. It would sort of be like having a lucid dream to make it sound simpler." She explained.

"I don't believe in any of that stuff." Maka replied back curtly, already feeling uncomfortable by the woman's sudden change in behavior.

Ms. Brown sighed resolutely and set the glass down next to them. "Many of my past customers were skeptics as you are right now. Neither the potion nor I will harm you in anyway; it will only make you sleep for the next 2 hours. I would wake you up when the all the time has elapsed."

Maka still shook her head, but the smirk Ms. Brown continued to send her was beginning to make her curious if even for a brief moment to experience life if things were different. '_A world where Blair doesn't live with us, where it's my Mama who's around and my Papa is gone, and even Soul reciprocates my feelings…but none it would actually be real.'_

"If there's really no harm in it, then I guess I could try it out while the storm passes. Though I still don't believe I will actually experience anything. Maka stated firmly.

Ms. Brown chuckled at that and handed her the drink. "Now, all you need to do is close your eyes and slowly drink the potion while calmly focusing your mind.

Maka nodded her head warily before following her directions. "How long should I keep my eyes closed?"

"You can open them on the count of 3. 1…2…3!" Ms. Brown spoke out softly, clapping her hands together gently as Maka opened her eyes once again.

"See, I told you nothing was going to happen-?" Maka trailed off when she noticed Ms. Brown was no longer sitting in front of her.

~**X**~

"What the; where did she go?" Maka whispered out, looking in all directions for the elderly woman. She wasn't in her kitchen or upstairs after Maka did a sweeping search of the house.

Maka glanced back at the table in the living room and noticed there was no longer any tea-set there either.

'_She could just be trying to trick me into believing she disappeared, but I don't think she would go walking out into a storm.' _Maka pondered, opening the living room's blinds to peer outside.

Apparently in the midst of her searching, she hadn't noticed the hailing really had stopped. Maka glanced over the damp sidewalk and saw that sun appeared to be close to setting.

"I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye, but Soul is probably wondering where the heck I am." Maka mumbled, heading outside to get a better look at things. The scent of rain still permeated the air, but other than that; nothing looked out of the ordinary.

Maka turned the stare back at the front of Ms. Brown's home and gaped when she saw the outside of her house appeared to be in shambles with holes littering the rooftop and rotten floor boards along the front porch. The house resembled more of an abandoned one than one anyone would want to live in.

'_Maybe I didn't notice how it looked from the outside since the hail obscured my vision or possibly the hail damaged it?' _Maka contemplated on her walk back to her apartment.

Maka grinned in relief when she made it back home and found Soul on the couch watching some random show. Soul muted the show to send her a scowl. "Where the hell have you been? Didn't you notice the messages I left you on your phone?"

"Err no, I got distracted…" Maka muttered.

Soul still looked annoyed before he let out a sigh and ruffled her hair lightly. "I bet you were waiting out the storm in the library again, right?"

"Um yeah, anyways, I should get started on dinner since it's my turn to cook." Maka stated, changing the topic.

Soul shook his head as he pointed to the take-out he had already bought. "I got that on my way home. You can relax for the rest of the night."

Maka stared at the take-out for a moment before slowly nodding her head. It wasn't until Maka took off her wet jacket and put it with the rest of her dirty laundry that she realized Blair hadn't come out to greet her.

"Hey Soul, where's Blair? Has she already gone off to work for the night?" Maka questioned.

Soul glanced away from the TV to send her a puzzled expression. "Who's Blair?"

'_Is he messing with me?' _Maka thought with a groan. "You know who I'm talking about. The cat who came to live with us after we accidently assumed she was a witch. Always coming onto you?"

Soul's puzzled look seemed to deepen even further before he eventually grinned. "I have no idea what you're talking about, but it sounds interesting. Did you read this in one of your books or something?"

Maka growled and bit back her urge to curse. "No, this is not something I made up! She made us have to start all over in our collection of souls, remember that?!"

"Maka, I think I would remember something as critical as _**that**_ happening, but as far as I know, I've been a Death Scythe for at least a good few months now; probably a year now actually." Soul answered back coolly.

'_That's impossible.' _Maka mused, ready to make a retort back, but noticed a newspaper clipping Soul was pointing to on the wall. Maka walked over to it and looked over the headline and date in awe. November 17th 2013: Soul Eater Evans becomes youngest known Death Scythe by meister Maka Albarn!

Maka continued to read over the paper and glance over the photos in shock. There were pictures of her and Soul not only with Lord Death, but also with her mother.

'_How is this possible; I don't even remember any of this stuff happening! Soul couldn't have been a Death Scythe for this long…and why is…why is Mama here in these photos too?' _Maka wondered in stunned silence.

Soul came up behind her and patted her on the back soothingly. "Are you all right Maka? You look a bit pale."

Maka managed to weakly nod her head, placing the framed article back onto the wall. "I think I just need to lie down is all."

Soul looked like he wanted to say more, but Maka took off to her room before he could get a word out.

"This isn't right; what the heck is going on?" Maka whispered to herself, sliding shakily down her closed door. Surely her childish and silly desires hadn't become real, had they?

Everything that was happening had to be fantasy; that was all she needed to tell herself. No matter how real it seemed…

~**X**~

"Are you feeling any better Maka?" Soul asked her the next day in their typical walk to school.

Maka nodded her head, but truthfully her head was pounding even more now in confusion and worry. How could it be that Soul didn't notice anything off about Blair suddenly not living with them or her Mama coming back from her trip around the world? '_If we never fought Blair, then that means so many other things haven't happened…that means Soul doesn't have Black Blood because we never needed to go to Italy and it also means we never met Crona! How did we win those other fights without using that power?'_

To her surprise, Soul reached out and grabbed her hand to give it a gentle squeeze and help ease her thoughts. "To me, it seemed like you saw a ghost yesterday when I showed you that newspaper article. It seems you've been troubled ever since then."

"That's because I don't remember any of that happening." Maka grumbled, causing Soul to frown. '_Did she lose her memories somehow?' _Soul thought.

"I'm not sure why you don't recall such an important day, but I'll help you remember after I finish my exercises with Kid." Soul stated with a smirk, moving to give a light kiss to her cheek before leaving.

'_What was that for? Soul and I don't have that type of relationship.' _Maka mused, the warmth from the spot making her whole face feel flushed and slightly dizzy.

"Maka, shouldn't you be getting to class, too?" Kami called out from her side, breaking her mood.

For a second, Maka could only gape at seeing her mother again in person. The matching blonde hair and sharp green eyes along with the strong-willed personality she always tried to emulate were gazing back at her with a stern look.

"Mama, when did you get back home?!" Maka suddenly cried out, leaping to give her a hug.

Kami looked down at Maka in bewilderment before she gently pried her off. "I've always been here."

"No, you haven't! You went on a trip around the world after you divorced Papa." Maka said back.

Kami's eyes darkened for a second at the mention of Spirit, but she managed to gain back a meager smile. "You know your father was the one who wanted to go off on a journey."

A part of her wanted to question her mother further on that, but it would probably just end the same way it had when she had brought up Blair to Soul. Besides that, the look her mother was giving her seemed off somehow…

"Hey Mama, if you're not busy later, could we spend some time together?" Maka asked.

"Doing what?" Kami questioned flatly.

"Ah, I'm not sure. We could check out that new bistro that opened up around the corner." Maka suggested.

Kami shrugged, but nodded her head in agreement. "We can meet at 3 I suppose, but for now you should really get going to class."

"I know this must be a dream, but I want to enjoy it as much as possible. Something like this could never happen in reality!"Maka whispered to herself excitedly.

Even the rest of her school day had gone well. None of Soul's fan-girls came to pester her and all of the rest of Spartoi were acting pretty much the same as usual.

'_If I really think about it, everything I told Ms. Brown I yearned to happen has come true. The only thing I still wonder about though is how I'll wake back up…not that I'm ready to right now.' _Maka thought with a grin, opening her locker to put away a textbook when she was suddenly greeted with a mass of letters spilling out.

"What is all this?" Maka inquired aloud.

"Your partner request letters, you always get those." Soul stated, walking up next to her.

Maka cocked her head in confusion at the range of small to large envelopes. "I think they must have mistaken my locker for yours."

Soul arched an eyebrow before he let out a laugh. "No, they've always been sending you letters, especially after you made me into a Death Scythe."

'_What the hell? No they haven't! Soul is the one who's popular, not me…This wasn't even something I particularly wished to happen.'_

"Hey, since Kid let me out of training early, want to go get a bite to eat? Maybe I can help jog back your memory too." Soul prompted with a smirk.

Maka grinned back, but frowned when she remembered the prior agreement she had made with her mother. "Actually, I was going to checkout that new bistro with my mom."

Soul snorted at the mention of Kami. "What? Why do want to spend time with her?"

Maka scowled at Soul's answer. "Well, why not?! What's wrong with her, hmm?"

'_Only that she's a coldhearted asshole.' _Soul thought, shaking his head when Maka was sending him a menacing glare. "Never mind, I'll just meet you at home later."

Maka huffed as she trudged to meet Kami outside the bistro. Even if Soul seemed to have a bad attitude about her, she wasn't about to let that ruin her mood.

When about 20 minutes of waiting had passed though, Maka was beginning to ponder herself if her mother had forgotten about their meeting.

Maka ruffled her plaid red skirt restlessly for any sign of Kami and grinned eagerly when she caught a glimpse of ash blonde hair walking around the corner.

Maka straightened up to greet her, but hesitated when she saw the expression on Kami's face. '_That look…I know that look. It's the look __**I **__get when I have to go do something with Papa. Mama doesn't really want to spend time with me…' _

Kami eventually approached Maka and gave her a smile that could now tell was fake. "So, are you ready to head in?"

"Ah actually, something important came up at home. Perhaps some other time?" Maka lied.

Kami blinked in puzzlement before nodding her head. "If that's what you want. Are you sure?"

Maka nodded her head firmly, swallowing to push back the tears threatened to spill from her eyes. If Kami didn't actually want to spend time with her, she wasn't about to force her to. Dream or not.

Maka sighed as she brushed away a few warm tears from her cheeks trudging home. Her so called perfect illusion had just given her the bitter taste of how things really were. '_That's exactly how you treat and behave around your Papa most of the time anyways. Now you know he feels.' _A harsh part of her mind snapped at her, as she closed the front door.

"You're home earlier than expected, what happened to meeting with your mom?" Soul asked from the sofa, but stopped his teasing when he noticed the tear stains on Maka's cheeks.

"Whoa, what caused this to occur?" Soul questioned, brushing her hair out of her face. Maka only sighed and gently pushed his hands away.

"You were right. Mama didn't honestly want to meet with me so I saved her the trouble of forcing herself too." Maka said softly.

"How could you even tell?" Soul asked.

"She had the same look on her face that I get when I have to do something I don't want to do." Maka clarified.

Soul winced at that though a sly smile quickly came back onto his face. "Want me to get your mind off of her?"

Maka moved to lazily sprawl herself against the couch with Soul following after her. "Yeah sure, I guess."

It probably hadn't even been a few minutes before Maka could distinctly feel a grazing sensation against her neck.

"Soul…what are you doing?" Maka breathed out, squirming when he moved his kisses towards her collarbone.

"Making you forget, what else?" Soul replied back naturally, shifting his kisses upward until their lips met.

Any thoughts of uncertainty towards doing this started to slowly descend from her mind once Soul started to push her against the couch and deepen their kisses. All of heated caresses he left along her back and intense stares he gave her in the growing darkness of their apartment were creating a blurred line between fantasy and reality.

Soul shifted in his position on top of her causing a soft moan to leave her lips. "Let's go to my room." He murmured, already beginning to lift Maka up.

Maka almost dazedly curled into his arms in agreement, lust about to win her over until a foggy part of her conscience reminded her that this Soul wasn't real. None of this was real.

'_How could I almost forget that?' _Maka questioned herself in a panic, pushing Soul back in alarm with the truth weighing into her mind in a rush.

"What's wrong Maka?" Soul asked in concern. Maka turned back to face him and nearly crumpled at the look of longing and worry etched on his face.

But these longing looks he had been giving her along with the warmth of his body pressed against hers were only just figments of her dream. A dream she needed to awaken from.

"You're not real. And I can't…I can't go on pretended that this is real when I know it isn't." Maka quietly murmured.

Soul gained a baffled expression and moved to reach out to her, but Maka only moved to sit up and readjust her clothes.

"Do you really want to wake up even knowing that this is just a dream?" Soul inquired gently.

Maka nodded her head adamantly, sending Soul a soft smile. "Yes, I won't delude myself to living in a world of fantasy. I only need to figure out how to wake up though."

Soul grinned and patted Maka's shoulders lightly. "You can wake up anytime you want to, Maka."

Maka didn't understand what he meant until it seemed like he was starting to shake her shoulders even harder.

Maka eventually blearily opened her eyes and found she was no longer in her apartment, but back at Ms. Brown's house once more.

"Welcome back." Ms. Brown said with a laugh, chuckling at Maka's sleepy disposition.

~**X**~

"So, all of that really was a dream?" Maka mumbled, not sure she wanted to believe it.

Ms. Brown nodded her head with a smile. "You were out for about 2 hours like I said. It was a bit hard to wake you back up though."

Maka rubbed her eyes tiredly and glanced down at the half-empty elixir sitting on the floor. She didn't even remember falling asleep; it had all happened so fast.

"Tell me Maka, did you have a nice dream?" Ms. Brown asked curiously.

"It was nice in the beginning, but I had to remind myself that everything that was happened wasn't real." Maka mused.

"That's the power of a lucid-dream. The dreamer knows they are in a dream and have the power to control it any way they like." Ms. Brown explained.

'_Nothing beats reality though, that much I know from what I thought I desired…'_Maka realized.

"I'm sorry I kept you here so long; the hailstorm has already stopped. I'm pretty sure that Soul person you mentioned earlier is worried about you since your phone kept going off while you slept." Ms. Brown stated, causing Maka to look at her phone to see the missed calls and texts Soul had sent her.

Maka sat up from the chair and stretched her arms out before sending Ms. Brown one last smile. "Thank you for letting me wait out the storm in your home. I appreciate it."

Ms. Brown shook her head with a smile. "It was nice having company over. I hope your dream taught you a thing or two."

Maka nodded her head with a grin. Just before Maka turned to head down the sidewalk, she glanced back over the exterior of Ms. Brown's home and beamed when she saw the house no longer looked like the mess it had been in her dream.

On the way back to the apartment, Maka made a quick stop at ChupaCabras and naturally found her father sitting at one of the booths after asking Blair where he was.

Spirit nearly sputtered out his beer when he saw Maka standing across from him. "Why…why are you here?"

Maka frowned at the loud music blaring inside the club. "We should talk outside."

Outside, Maka shuffled at her feet while her Spirit watched her unusual nervous behavior. "Why have you come here Maka? Were you dared to meet up with me again by your friends?"

"No, that's not it! I came to apologize for what I said to you earlier." Maka said seriously.

Spirit looked surprised for a moment before he frowned. "You don't really mean that. I know how much you prefer your mother over me. I'm sorry I can't be her, but-"

"It's okay that you're not her. I'm just glad you're here for me and you still try to help me even though I don't need it most of the time." Maka stated sincerely.

Spirit found himself tearing up at Maka's words. "Oh, apology accepted!" He cried out, pulling Maka into a hug which she awkwardly managed to return.

"I should get heading back home now." Maka grumbled out, squirming out of her Papa's grip.

Spirit looked sad for a second before he nodded his head in agreement. "That's true; it is a school night after all."

Blair came outside to make sure the two were okay and pouted when saw that Maka was already heading home.

"Aww, I didn't get a chance to apologize for teasing her so much earlier! I was only hoping it could finally push her and Soul to hook up faster." Blair huffed out.

"I'm sure she already knows…wait a minute what were you trying to do with her and Soul?!" Spirit answered back.

When Maka finally reached her apartment, she found Soul leaning against her doorway with a scowl.

"Care to explain why the hell you ignored my texts and phone calls?"

'_I wonder if the excuse I used in my dream will work now.' _Maka pondered. "Err; I was waiting out the storm in the library?

Soul only snorted, moving off her door. "No you weren't."

"Well, it was worth a try." Maka whispered under her breathe, sighing at the glare Soul was still sending her.

Soul looked her over for a moment before relaxed slightly when he realized how tired Maka seemed. "Maka, what's been bothering you lately?"

Maka furrowed her brows as memories of her dream and earlier in day came back to her. "I'm sorry I've been worrying you. I guess I've just been troubled by all the recent changes that have happened since you became a Death Scythe."

"If it's because we can't hang out as much then I can start skipping my lessons." Soul said with a smirk.

Maka shook her head with a laugh, surprising Soul by gently embracing him in a hug.

Maka beamed and gave a slow glance around the apartment. Blair's food bowl still remained half empty in the corner and pictures of the distinct places and friends they had made over the years still decorated the walls.

Soul gradually tightened his grip on her as Maka looked back up at him to send him a small smile.

She was home and this was all real.

~_**x**_~


End file.
